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General News

15 October, 2022

Full steam ahead for rail journey

A SMALL group of dedicated men and women are quietly working away at creating a major new tourist attraction for the region which promises to elevate visitation in the southern Tablelands and at the same time, preserve an important part of local history.

By Robyn Holmes

railway in that area is preserved and celebrated. To that end, they have transformed their head-quarters adjacent to the original Herberton Rail-way Station from a small shed on a bare block to a massive workshop which they constructed themselves to house and restore the various loco-motives, carriages and other rail vehicles. “We do it all ourselves – the only person we had to pay to do something was an electrician,” Mr Slater said. They have also extended the original railway station to provide a new Refreshments Room which will be styled in a 1940s theme – another source of income for the group to help fund the restoration of the rail fleet and upgrades to the in-frastructure, like culverts and bridges on the track which was built in the early 1900s. Mr Slater, who has been with the group for 14 years, is clearly proud of what the small band of volunteers have achieved to date and is deter-mined they will make their vision of a unique rail experience a reality. “Collectively, we have around 42 volunteers but there is a core group of around 20 that come every Tuesday morning to work here,” he said. That work includes running the café, rolling out all new landscaping around the railway sta-tion and its surrounds, restoring the locomotives and carriages and running the train rides. Mr Slater, who is a retired civil engineer, has plenty of skilled talent around him, including retired boilermakers, welders, carpenters, en-gineers, machinists, and landscapers as well as four dedicated women who run the Refreshments Room including making a variety of treats to sell. Over the next few months, the group will start a critical upgrade to the bridge over Herberton’s Wild River so the newly restored Peckett loco-motive and carriage can start regular runs to the town’s historical village. The village has supported the group’s work by helping to fund the restoration of the carriage, and other businesses also offer in-kind support to the group, as well as prisoners from Lotus Glen who did all the upholstery in the carriage. And with another 1908 Peckett and a 1910 wooden carriage to restore, they group will need all the help they can get. Mr Slater says it takes a lot of time to find parts and other gear to restore the locomotives and car-riages. “I search the world for parts – twice a week I’m on railway sites trying to find parts,” he said. “The 1905 Peckett worked at Mt Morgan where it worked for most of his life, then onto Mt Isa mines,” Mr Slater said. “It will probably take four years to restore it because we have learned a few things doing the first one.” On 20 October, the Atherton-Herberton His-toric Railway will host a special celebration in the Refreshment Room to mark 112 years since rail arrived in the town. The Tinlander will continue to make runs to the historical village on weekends and school holidays until the bridge is upgraded to take the Peckett. A new website is also being developed for the train rides which will allow people to book online. Volunteers from the Atherton-Herberton Historic Railway are keen to show off all their work during this week's Jacaranda Festival.
railway in that area is preserved and celebrated. To that end, they have transformed their head-quarters adjacent to the original Herberton Rail-way Station from a small shed on a bare block to a massive workshop which they constructed themselves to house and restore the various loco-motives, carriages and other rail vehicles. “We do it all ourselves – the only person we had to pay to do something was an electrician,” Mr Slater said. They have also extended the original railway station to provide a new Refreshments Room which will be styled in a 1940s theme – another source of income for the group to help fund the restoration of the rail fleet and upgrades to the in-frastructure, like culverts and bridges on the track which was built in the early 1900s. Mr Slater, who has been with the group for 14 years, is clearly proud of what the small band of volunteers have achieved to date and is deter-mined they will make their vision of a unique rail experience a reality. “Collectively, we have around 42 volunteers but there is a core group of around 20 that come every Tuesday morning to work here,” he said. That work includes running the café, rolling out all new landscaping around the railway sta-tion and its surrounds, restoring the locomotives and carriages and running the train rides. Mr Slater, who is a retired civil engineer, has plenty of skilled talent around him, including retired boilermakers, welders, carpenters, en-gineers, machinists, and landscapers as well as four dedicated women who run the Refreshments Room including making a variety of treats to sell. Over the next few months, the group will start a critical upgrade to the bridge over Herberton’s Wild River so the newly restored Peckett loco-motive and carriage can start regular runs to the town’s historical village. The village has supported the group’s work by helping to fund the restoration of the carriage, and other businesses also offer in-kind support to the group, as well as prisoners from Lotus Glen who did all the upholstery in the carriage. And with another 1908 Peckett and a 1910 wooden carriage to restore, they group will need all the help they can get. Mr Slater says it takes a lot of time to find parts and other gear to restore the locomotives and car-riages. “I search the world for parts – twice a week I’m on railway sites trying to find parts,” he said. “The 1905 Peckett worked at Mt Morgan where it worked for most of his life, then onto Mt Isa mines,” Mr Slater said. “It will probably take four years to restore it because we have learned a few things doing the first one.” On 20 October, the Atherton-Herberton His-toric Railway will host a special celebration in the Refreshment Room to mark 112 years since rail arrived in the town. The Tinlander will continue to make runs to the historical village on weekends and school holidays until the bridge is upgraded to take the Peckett. A new website is also being developed for the train rides which will allow people to book online. Volunteers from the Atherton-Herberton Historic Railway are keen to show off all their work during this week's Jacaranda Festival.

Atherton-Herberton Historic Railway volunteers are working towards a grand plan to create a first-class tourist and heritage steam train experience that, when completed, will allow visitors to take a train from Atherton to a railway siding called Moomin, where a Heritage and Events Centre would be established to showcase the his-tory of the men who cut sleepers for the railway, then board another historic train to Herberton.

“The economic benefit of this to the region will be significant – history is a big attractor for domestic tourists,” group president Bob Slater said.

The group have been diligently restoring a 1905 Peckett steam locomotive and a 1913 wood-en carriage over the past six years, with commissioning of the train now complete after volunteers put in more than 90,000 hours to get it back to pristine condition.

What the group has achieved over the past seven years is testament to their determination, passion and commitment to ensure the history of the railway in that area is preserved and celebrated.

To that end, they have transformed their head-quarters adjacent to the original Herberton Railway Station from a small shed on a bare block to a massive workshop which they constructed themselves to house and restore the various loco-motives, carriages and other rail vehicles.

“We do it all ourselves – the only person we had to pay to do something was an electrician,” Mr Slater said.

They have also extended the original railway station to provide a new Refreshments Room which will be styled in a 1940s theme – another source of income for the group to help fund the restoration of the rail fleet and upgrades to the infrastructure, like culverts and bridges on the track which was built in the early 1900s.

Mr Slater, who has been with the group for 14 years, is clearly proud of what the small band of volunteers have achieved to date and is deter-mined they will make their vision of a unique rail experience a reality.

“Collectively, we have around 42 volunteers but there is a core group of around 20 that come every Tuesday morning to work here,” he said.

Pictured are Atherton-Herberton Historic Railway president Bob Slater, machinist Mark Pierson and welder and boilermaker Steve Delacy with the 1905 Peckett locomotive which has taken more than 90,000 hours to restore.
Pictured are Atherton-Herberton Historic Railway president Bob Slater, machinist Mark Pierson and welder and boilermaker Steve Delacy with the 1905 Peckett locomotive which has taken more than 90,000 hours to restore.

That work includes running the café, rolling out all new landscaping around the railway sta-tion and its surrounds, restoring the locomotives and carriages and running the train rides.

Mr Slater, who is a retired civil engineer, has plenty of skilled talent around him, including retired boilermakers, welders, carpenters, engineers, machinists, and landscapers as well as four dedicated women who run the Refreshments Room including making a variety of treats to sell.

Over the next few months, the group will start a critical upgrade to the bridge over Herberton’s Wild River so the newly restored Peckett locomotive and carriage can start regular runs to the town’s historical village.

The village has supported the group’s work by helping to fund the restoration of the carriage, and other businesses also offer in-kind support to the group, as well as prisoners from Lotus Glen who did all the upholstery in the carriage.

And with another 1908 Peckett and a 1910 wooden carriage to restore, they group will need all the help they can get.

Mr Slater says it takes a lot of time to find parts and other gear to restore the locomotives and carriages.

“I search the world for parts – twice a week

I’m on railway sites trying to find parts,” he said.

“The 1905 Peckett worked at Mt Morgan where it worked for most of his life, then onto Mt Isa mines,” Mr Slater said.

“It will probably take four years to restore it because we have learned a few things doing the first one.”

On 20 October, the Atherton-Herberton Historic Railway will host a special celebration in the Refreshment Room to mark 112 years since rail arrived in the town.

The Tinlander will continue to make runs to the historical village on weekends and school holidays until the bridge is upgraded to take the Peckett.

A new website is also being developed for the train rides which will allow people to book online

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